THE ROMANS SERIES GLORY TO GOD Romans 16:21-27 STUDY (46) Rev (Dr) Paul Ferguson Calvary Tengah Bible Presbyterian Church Shalom Chapel, 345 Old Choa Chu Kang Road, Singapore 698923 www.calvarytengah.com 11 March 2012
Many years ago, Dr. H. A. Ironside, who was pastor of the famous Moody Church in Chicago, was concerned about his lack of humility. An older brother advised him to, Make a sandwich board with the plan of salvation in Scripture on it. Put it on and walk through the business district of Chicago for a whole day. This was a humiliating experience for a pastor from such a prestigious church, but Ironside went out and did so. Later when he arrived home, Ironside recounts that he caught himself thinking, There s not another person in Chicago that would be willing to do a thing like that. Pride is such an insidious and powerful foe for a believer. Even in an act of humility, spiritual pride can easily snare us. Man loves to rob God of His glory. The chief are of this is in respect of salvation. However, the Lord declares in Isaiah 42:8, I am the LORD: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. OVERVIEW After he has finished unfolding the great doctrines of the gospel, the Apostle Paul concludes this Epistle by a great doxology of praise. Every preacher s heart should be moved by his message. If it doesn t move him, then how does he expect it to move anyone else. In Romans 1:16 he set forth his theme as: the Gospel of Christ. After he has unfolded his great theme of the doctrines of the gospel in the preceding sixteen chapters, Paul s heart naturally is moved to praise God. He extols the: (1) GREAT WORK (2) GREAT INSTRUMENT (3) GREAT OBJECT (1) GREAT WORK The first thing the apostle glories in is the great work of the gospel. In v25 he points out that the gospel has the power to stablish you. This Greek word translated stablish has the idea of to put or place something firmly in a location, cause it to be fixed or establish it in a place. Only God is able to effect this result (cf. Romans 14:4). The first thing the gospel does is to establish our lives on an unshakeable rock. In Matthew 7 the Lord Jesus Christ compared a true believer to a man who built his house on a rock. We are told, And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. Despite the raging storm it fell not. This is because for it was founded upon a rock. That was the key to its durability. It is not the wisdom of man s design or the aesthetic beauty of the home that is critical but the foundation. This is not the only way we become established in Christ. As we mature as believers we become strengthened or stablished in Him. Paul told the Roman believers in chapter one, For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established (Romans 1:11). This word established is the same Greek word used in Romans 16:25. The Christian life is never meant to be static. God s purpose is that we are to move from being babes in Christ to mature saints. As we do so, we become stronger and established in our faith. A child is born to become an adult and a parent is concerned if there is no development. Acting like an infant as a teenager is not cute! Likewise, the Lord is worried when believers remain immature many years after they have been converted. The book of Romans unfolds the great fullness of the gospel message. The purpose of this doctrinal and practical treatise is not to produce mere intellectual 2
attainment. The great purpose is to cause a growth in your life spiritually. This will prevent a church being blown around by every wind of false doctrine (cf. Eph. 4:14). This stability is what the apostle desires in the saints in Rome. Paul knows that once a church is strengthened spiritually on the nourishment of the Word of God it will grow outwardly. The early church grew this way, And they continued stedfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:42-47) Notice the significance of the order as they members continue in doctrine and become spiritually stronger, then the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. The job of the pastors and elders of any church is to take care of the spiritual depth of that church, and then trust God to take care of the breadth of it. (2) GREAT INSTRUMENT Paul then ascribes glory to the great instrument that is used to do the good work of establishing men and women in their faith. This is none other than the preaching of Jesus Christ. The heart of the gospel is the revelation of the Person of Jesus Christ. We live by the power of Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). Now, this Jesus Christ is not the subject of Paul s thinking but, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets. The Jesus Christ that Paul preached was objectively revealed in Scriptures. For even in Paul s day there was those in the church preaching a false Christ by a counterfeit Holy Spirit and another Gospel. Paul warns of this to the Corinthians, For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. (2 Cor. 11:4) Today in modern Christianity we have all kinds of false Jesus Christs proclaimed. We have the longhaired rock n roll hippy Jesus; we have the non-judgmental Jesus who loves you despite your sinful lifestyle; we have the Jesus who lives to make you happy and to improve your self-esteem. The Jesus Christ is often misrepresented as a kind of personal genie that pops out of the bottle when you rub it to give you whatever you desire. Yet, the Jesus Christ of the Bible is one who calls His disciples to self-denial, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matt. 16:24). It is Peter who declared the call to suffer like Christ, For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps (1 Peter 2:21). Paul s great subject was the preaching of Jesus Christ. That was the instrument he gloried in to reach the Gentile world with the gospel. This was the instrument that built the apostolic church. We read this throughout Acts, 3
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. (Acts 8:5) Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. (Acts 8:35) And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. (Acts 9:19-20) Every true preacher is to be like a waiter. God is the chef that prepares the meal to feed His people. The waiter s job is to deliver the meal that the chef has prepared without adding to it or subtracting from it. That is the same for a preacher. He doesn t come up with the meal. It is God s message of the preaching of Christ. The preacher s job is to get this to his hearers without alteration. Let me say this bluntly. The message we preach from this pulpit is Jesus Christ. There is no other star here but the Bright and Morning Star (Rev. 22:16). We echo the heart of the apostle Paul when he cried, For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). Paul was not interested in exalting self in his messages, For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord (2 Cor. 4:5). People are not going to get saved by anyone else than by Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2). Christians are not going to be properly motivated to serve God by anyone else. The apostles always point to Christ as the power, example, and motivation for believers to live Christian lives. Indeed, it was Jesus Christ Himself who set this precedent, And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Mark 10:44-45). (3) GREAT OBJECT Paul is going to bring all of his thoughts together in v27, To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen. The great object of our worship is To God only wise, be glory. Every other religion in this world starts with man and tells man to improve himself by seeking to work his way back to God. But true Christianity acknowledges that salvation starts with God. God has to plan it all before the foundation of the world, God had to give His only begotten Son, God had to effect it all in our lives, and God has to perfect it all in keeping us all the way to glory. We were dead in our trespasses and in sin. God had to come seeking us. Adam and Eve were not seeking God in Genesis 3 after the Fall. Rather they were trying to run away from God. It was God who came down and sought them out. It was God who revealed His plan of salvation to them, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (Gen. 3:15). This is why the angels sung in the first Christmas carol in Luke 2:14, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. The Lord did all of this without the advice or assistance of any man. Paul makes it clear that the golden chain of redemption from predestination to glorification is all tied up in God s power and will in Romans 8:29-30. There is no room for man to get in. So, God alone gets all the glory. But man is always trying to rob God of His glory. That is why we have the Roman Catholic Church and all of the cults who teach salvation by works. They want man to get some of God s glory for their salvation. However, man can never claim glory for salvation. It is all of God. Man cannot 4
even get credit for seeking the Lord as He first sought us out. Harry Ironside once recounted a prayer meeting where he heard a man give a wonderful testimony of God s saving grace in his life. Afterwards a silly man came up to him and said, My brother, that was a fine testimony you gave. You talked a lot about God, but you didn t mention your own part in salvation. The man paused before replying, You re right. I did leave that out. My part was to run away from God as fast as I could, and God s part was to run after me until he caught me. CH Spurgeon put the truth of God s unconditional election in a most convincing manner when he stated, I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite sure that if God had not chosen me I should never have chosen Him; and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards; and He must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why He should have looked upon me with special love. So I am forced to accept that doctrine. CONCLUSION None of us deserve to go to heaven. If God cast us all into hell, He would be fully justified. Every man or woman who finds themselves in heaven can praise no one but God and if they find themselves in hell they can blame no one but themselves. Paul has endeavoured to set forth every possible reason for glorifying God and humbling man in this epistle. He has deliberately set out to lift up the greatness and glory of the gospel plan. So if you are a believer here today, when Paul says, To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen you simply add your AMEN. Is that the cry of your heart? Do you live for the glory of God? When Paul says, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God (Romans 3:10-11), then you simply say AMEN. When Paul writes, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) say AMEN. When Paul declares, Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1) say AMEN. When Paul makes clear, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:1) say AMEN. And when Paul cries in triumph, For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39) you should echo AMEN. We will sing the glory of God in heaven (Rev. 5:12-13). This is what we must sing on earth also. UNBELIEVER To God be the glory, great things He has done; So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, Who yielded His life an atonement for sin, And opened the life gate that all may go in. Can you sing today: 5
My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly trust in Jesus Name. Is that you statement of faith? What are you trusting in to bring you to heaven? Church membership will not do it. Baptism will not do it. Only the imputed righteousness of Christ will save your soul from hell. This is the message of the Book of Romans. There may be some here who want to put this decision of for another day. The Bible warns, Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth (Prov. 27:1). One of the greatest lies of the devil that has damned many in hell is, You have plenty of time. Hell is full of people who intended to get saved tomorrow. In Acts 24 we read of man called Felix who trembled but still procrastinated, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee (Acts 24:25). We urge you, To day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts (Heb. 3:15) May God help you to come. 6